Rescues in Tight Spaces

September 19, 2011

By

Christopher Roy

Firefighters from four area communities practice a confine space rescue at the Newport City Fire Department. Photo by Christopher Roy

NEWPORT CITY â€“ Over the weekend, firefighters from four Northeast Kingdom Communities participated in confined space rescue training at the Newport City Fire Department. The departments that took part in the four-day class include Newport City, Jay, Orleans and Newark.Â
Confined space rescue involves the rescue and recovery of victims trapped in a confined space or in a place accessible through a confined space, such as underground vaults, storage silos, storage tanks or sewers.Â
â€śWe have a lot of employers around the country that have confined spaces,â€ť explained trainer Scott Goodwin of Toledo, Ohio. â€śWe, as the fire service, need to be able to perform those rescues effectively and efficiently."
The Newport City Fire Department and Jay Fire Department both have technical rescue equipment.
â€śBetween the two of us, we have a great setup,â€ť said Newport City Fire Chief Jamie LeClair.
â€śIf we have an incident, weâ€™re going to call them; and if they have an incident, they're going to call us."
There are numerous reasons why rescue personnel may have to rescue someone from a confined space. An atmospheric problem may leave a person unconscious, there may be a medical problem or an accident. Confined rescues happen more often than people think.
â€śThey just donâ€™t get reported as such unless itâ€™s a major incident,â€ť said Goodwin.
Because of the number of fatalities, the federal government is targeting confined spaces in silos and granaries all over the country. Rescue personnel who are not properly trained have the potential to become victims themselves. â€śWe go from a victim who is down and needing assistance to two, three, five people.â€ť
Area rescue personnel do not normally have confined rescue calls, but when they do, department officials want to make sure everyone goes home, said LeClair. He said that years ago rescue personnel used to go â€śin the holeâ€ť no matter the consequences.
â€śThere is equipment that is available to us,â€ť said LeClair. Departments from Newport City and Jay obtained the equipment around 2005. However, the departments never trained as hard as they did this past weekend. They had done some basic training. â€śThis just advances our training.â€ť
Both Goodwin and LeClair said that in the past firefighters primarily responded to fires and car accidents.
â€śNow weâ€™re disciplined in technical rescue,â€ť said Goodwin. â€śWe do structural collapse, high angle ropes, water rescue, confined space rescue and trench rescue and heavy machinery rescue. The fire service has evolved tremendously over the last 10 years.â€ť
Doug James, Jay Fire Chief,called it a very good training session.